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Markel Corp.’s Board of Directors elected Anthony F. (Tony) Markel vice chairman and Paul W. Springman president and chief operating officer.
Markel served Markel Corp. for more than 40 years, most recently as president and chief operating officer since 1992.
Springman has been executive vice president of the company since 2002. Prior to that, he was with wholly-owned Markel subsidiary Shand Morahan & Co. Inc. (Markel Shand Inc.) from 1984 to 2002, where he last served as president and chief operating officer.
Commenting on the elections, Alan I. Kirshner, chairman of the board and CEO said, “The new roles will allow us to further implement our succession planning.”
Swett & Crawford named Michael S. “Steve” Sadler chief operating officer and executive vice president of sales.
The majority of Sadler’s career was spent at Marsh & McLennan, where in his 29-year tenure he held a series of national management and sales positions, including managing director, Global Construction Practice, group leader and managing director and chairman, Marsh Industry Practices. Since 2006, Sadler has been president of Denver-based 2-10 Home Buyer’s Warranty’s Builder Group, a home warranty, extended warranty and insurance products provider.
Farmers Group Inc. appointed Mhayse Samalya executive vice president of Farmers Group Inc. and president of Farmers Business Insurance. He previously was senior vice president of Farmers Group Inc. and president of Farmers Business Insurance.
Samalya began his career with Aetna in 1978 as an underwriter, and then held a number of senior management positions including regional vice president after the Travelers/Aetna merger, and president of a rapidly growing Citigroup/Travelers cross-selling property casualty initiative. He was president of the Hanover Insurance Co. in Worcester, Mass., from 2001 to 2005.
San Diego-based ICW Group named Kevin Prior president of its Independence Casualty and Surety subsidiary.
Prior, whose career at ICW Group spans 18 years, remains president and CEO of ICW Group and president of its Explorer Insurance Co. subsidiary. He replaces John Hannum, former executive vice president of Surety and president of ICS, who retired in February 2008.
The company said in 2004, Prior became one of the youngest insurance company presidents in the industry when he was promoted to president and CEO of ICW Group.
In addition, ICW Group promoted Doug Browne to senior vice president and managing director of its Surety Division, where he will oversee day-to-day activities. Previously senior vice president of Surety, Browne joined ICW Group in 1998 and brings more than 35 years of underwriting and management experience to the position.
San Francisco-based Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. named Martin Stryker vice president of financial solutions in the brokerage firm’s employee benefits practice. He will focus on medical cost reduction, pharmaceutical benefits management, and savings for middle market and large cap employers.
Stryker comes to Woodruff-Sawyer with an executive background as a chief operating officer and chief financial officer in several domestic and international corporate environments. At Deloitte, he was responsible for helping to conceive a strategy and manage a team that was accountable for the firm’s largest non-attest relationships in Northern California. Most recently, Martin worked at a large case health and welfare consulting and brokerage firm focusing on strategic account cost reduction strategies.
Marsh appointed Neil Greaves leader of its London-based Forensic Accounting and Claims Services.
Greaves joined Marsh in 2005, and is a chartered loss adjuster with 20 years of insurance industry experience. Before joining Marsh, he spent 15 years as a loss adjuster for the insurance market, and four years as a claims consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers. He has experience in material damage, business interruption, public and products liability and professional indemnity — particularly within the technology and telecommunications sector.
At Marsh, Greaves will aid in developing the FACS business portfolio in the United Kingdom, providing claims and other services to corporate clients and prospects.
Bermuda-based Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. promoted Simon Mason to deputy head of Marine & Energy, International Insurance. He will continue to report to John Henderson, head of Marine & Energy, International Insurance.
Mason joined Aspen in December 2004 and has 20 years of experience in the energy insurance sector. He serves on the London market Joint Rig Committee. Mason previously worked in the Lloyd’s market.
ACE Limited appointed two senior underwriters in its Glasgow, Scotland branch.
Julie Dolla joins as senior property underwriter from Zurich, where she was a property underwriter within the corporate team. She will manage ACE’s property account in Scotland, as well as look to expand the company’s distribution channels within the market. She has 10 years of experience of underwriting property risks, including a period spent working in the Australian insurance sector.
Gordon Knox joins as senior casualty underwriter. He will manage and develop ACE’s casualty account in Scotland. He previously spent eight years at AIG, including four of those as a senior casualty underwriter within the Liabilities division covering both Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The new appointments follow ACE’s relocation of its Glasgow branch office to larger quarters in Broomielaw.
Bermuda-based Montpelier Re Holdings named Michael S. Paquette chief financial officer and executive vice president of the company.
Paquette joined Montpelier in May 2007 as group controller. Previously, he served 18 years with White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. in a variety of capacities, including controller.
The company said Paquette was instrumental in the founding Montpelier, and worked with the startup team to establish its Bermuda operations. His promotion was scheduled to take effect on May 1. He replaces former Chief Financial Officer Kernan V. “Kip” Oberting, who is leaving the company to start an investment advisory company, but will continue to advise Montpelier until 2010.
San Diego-based Arrowhead General Insurance Agency Inc. named Ken Fish chief financial officer, replacing Ronda Sedillo, who assumed the chief accounting officer position. Fish’s appointment as CFO is part of Arrowhead’s restructuring plan.
Fish brings more than 20 years of financial management expertise in various business sectors. Most recently, he was vice president of corporate development at Allergan Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device company. He also served in an executive role at the Government of Singapore Investment Corp., which he joined in 2001 as vice president of special investments.
The board of directors of Pacific Interstate Insurance Brokers in El Dorado Hills, Calif., appointed Kirby Wells to the board on a unanimous vote.
Pacific Interstate Insurance Brokers group is a marketing organization consisting of 60 independent agencies located throughout California and representing more than $100 million in insurance premium.
Wells is the president of Cordova Insurance Center Inc., DBA Independent Solutions United. He has provided portfolio risk management for all lines of commercial and personal clients since his carrier started in 1981. Independent Solutions provides insurance products and risk management for a spectrum of clients.
The California State Compensation Insurance Fund appointed Thomas D. Clark vice president and member of the executive committee.
Clark brings more than 25 years of workers’ compensation experience to his new position. He began his State Fund career in 1980, when he was hired as an auditor for the organization’s San Diego district office. In 1988, he was appointed assistant claims manager at the Stockton district office, in the first in a series of promotions in claims. He also served as field services manager in Stockton. SCIF tapped his expertise and leadership in 2001, when Clark was appointed manager of the marketing department, where he oversaw the successful management of the State Fund’s broker program. Two years ago, Clark returned to the Stockton district office as district manager. At the time of his appointment to vice president, he was serving as the Sacramento district manager.